By the Light of the Moon and Heat of the Sun
by Jen-Jen3
Summary: L/J. Friends, events, powers. All inexplicable. Nothing seems real. What will they do? I'll put the real summary in soon. Just saying sorry for the format. I'm trying to fix it.
1. Red and Copper, Black and White

Chapter One: Red and Copper, White and Black  
  
She sat there, watching the twirl of heat and light spiral in front of her ivory face. At 5'8" the fifteen-year-old girl was one of kind. With deep red ringlets, and piercing emerald green eyes, the teen had a wild unconquerable spirit and a courageous yet loving nature.  
  
She loved to curl up in the comfy, blue armchair and lose herself in the simplicity of a crackling fire. Usually she would bring a book along to read, but this time she just wanted to sit undisturbed in her private world. As soon as that thought stepped into her mind she was interrupted by a scream. Unmoving, a mischievous smile crept across her smooth features.  
  
"Lilith Kali Evans! Come here this instant!!" Lily cringed and ducked as a short thin woman stormed into the room, throwing a rolling pin at the girl.. With grey hair, and a bitter temper, Madame Miriam stopped at the edge of the rug, spitting with rage. "Lily, this has gone too far. You are hereby grounded. You are no longer allowed anywhere except for your room and the bathroom for the next two weeks! I can't believe that you would do such a thing as to cover that room with toilet paper, silly string, shaving cream, and honey! Now, get to your room immediately."  
  
"Yes ma'am," replied the teen mockingly. Madame Miriam slapped her across the face. Gathering up her dignity, Lily bowed to the seething woman, and left..  
  
As she left, Madame Miriam watched her go, thinking, Why was I stuck with her? What did I do to deserve this?! She turned and left for the kitchens, preparing to yell at the cooks for the trouble they had caused.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lily entered her room, rubbing her cheek where a red handprint was forming. She crossed to the circular window, happily remembering the fun that she had had 'decorating' the study room. She looked up at the stars, gazing at the simple beauty of the star-filled night.  
  
She flicked her wrist behind her, and caught a book as it hurtled into her hand. Climbing up onto the windowsill, Lily opened up her newest read and started in. Within just a few minutes she was so deep into the book that she didn't notice the knock on her door. The knock repeated itself a little louder, finally snapping Lily out of her reverie. She slipped towards the door, quietly pulling it open. A shadowed figure swept into her room, and she closed the door softly behind it. When she turned around she saw the face of her best friend, Archer Silas Keith. A handsome boy with slightly long, copper coloured hair, 5'10", and a roguish twinkle in his emerald eyes, smiled at her.  
  
"Kal," he sighed exasperated. Archer had come up with the nickname Kal when he found out that Lily's middle name was Kali. It had stuck, and now was all that he ever called her. "Why did you have to go and get into trouble again? I thought we were going to explore the grounds tonight? And what happened to your cheek?"  
  
"Miriam," was Lily's only answer.  
  
Archer pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry. Did she ground you too?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm not allowed to leave my room or the bathroom at all. No food once again."  
  
"Kal, you need to stop causing trouble. All that happens is you get hit with something, and then grounded."  
  
"Hey, do you think that a grounding affects me? Geez, Sil, where are you today? We're still going, just let me grab my necklace." Each of the two teens had a necklace symbolizing themselves, and their friendship. It also worked as a way for them to communicate when in trouble. If one of the two friends were in trouble both of the necklaces would begin to glow and heat. Archer's was a silver chain with a white sun. Lily's was a silver chain with a white moon. Archer flicked his hand, and Lily's necklace soared to his outstretched arm. He handed it to her, and the two glided out of the room.  
  
The two best friends were infamous troublemakers in their orphanage, and lived for the thrill of danger. They spent most of their nights exploring the infinite grounds of their hated home, slipping in and out of the liquid shadows, setting up pranks and finding hideaways.  
  
Tonight they were going to explore a dark tunnel that Lily had found in the ground near the North wall. As they slipped outside, two powerful leopards, one a sleek midnight black the other a graceful snowy white, both with emerald eyes, took their place. Lily and Archer didn't know what their ability was called, but revelled in the possibilities that it allowed them.  
  
The two friends bounded across the dewy grass towards the North wall in search of their newest adventure. Though they wouldn't admit it, each adventure was in truth not for the pure fun of it, but for their search for freedom. More than anything else, the friends wanted to be free of their horrible life at the orphanage. They wanted a life of liberty filled with unlimited opportunities and possibilities. With this thought in the recesses of their minds, the two leopards silently approached the deep tunnel. After exchanging a quick look, Lily leapt into the darkness and bounded ahead with Archer following. They padded swiftly through the tunnel, silently watching their surroundings.  
  
"Grr," emerald eyes turned expectantly towards her friend. Archer created a short sound telling her to move faster. Lily snapped playfully and sped up. A couple hours after their 'discussion', Lily spotted a light. Could this finally be our way out? She thought. Quietly growling to catch Archer's attention, Lily moved cautiously towards the light and pushed at the moist dirt surrounding it.  
  
The dirt gave way easily, and she tumbled down a grassy hill landing softly at the bottom. Before she could move, Archer rolled down the hill, landing on top of her. She pushed him off with her paws and immediately transformed back into her human self. Spinning to her friend, Lily asked the question that was on both of their minds, "Are we really free, Sil?"  
  
"Kal, I think this is it. Look up there, that is the North wall, we're on the other side of it," he replied pointing to the top of the rolling hill. Archer and Lily looked at each other for a moment, and then flew into each other's arms, twirling around and laughing hard.  
  
"We did it, Sil! No more Madame Miriam. No more boring days. No more horrible people. No more being told what to do. Freedom! Just plain old wonderful freedom!! I can't believe it!! We really did it, Archer!!" She looked up at her friend with tears in her eyes, and grinned.  
  
"Come on, Kal! Let's ditch this place and get moving to somewhere happy." Archer transformed into his striking leopard form, and turned to his friend. There stood an elegant leopard with determination and joy written all over her powerful body. Archer gave Lily a toothy leopard's grin, and the two bounded softly into the light of the gathering dawn. 


	2. A Fresh Start

Chapter Two: A Fresh Start  
  
It was a bright and sunny morning when a most unwanted voice slammed into the brain of a sleeping boy. With jet black, messy hair, playful brown eyes, and a smile to make girls swoon, this boy was anything but happy. His mother was standing in the doorway of his room, yelling at him to get up.  
  
"James Nigel Potter, you had better get yourself up this instant or I will forcefully drag you out of bed, and then put you in the bathtub, which, might I add, is filled to the brim with ice cold water." At the last part James groaned and then began to sit up, signalling that he was awake.  
  
"I . . . am . . . up . . . Mum," he replied to her, yawning. After making sure that her son was going to stay awake, Nerida Potter left to prepare breakfast. James on the other hand was forcing himself to stay awake, knowing full well that if his mother came back and he was in bed, she would fulfil her threat. He dragged himself over to his closet, pulled on a pair of khakis and a white t-shirt, and shuffled to his mirror in an attempt to, once again, tame his unruly hair. Without any luck, James slowly stumbled down the stairs of his home, and into the brightly lit kitchen. After shovelling down a stack of pancakes and gulping down a glass of orange juice, he felt much more awake.  
  
"Mum, I'm going to go outside and fly for a while, alright?"  
  
"Have fun, dear, and don't cause any trouble," Mrs. Potter called after her son's retreating back.  
  
James walked outside, and happily breathed in the fresh air, revelling in its fragrant smell. He swung his leg over his broom, and took off for the heavens. He loved the feeling of the air rushing through his midnight hair, sweeping it away from his face. He adored the freedom that he felt, up in his own world, away from all the tensions existing on the ground.  
  
As the wind picked up, James raced towards the forest surrounding his house, urging the broom forward, pushing it to go faster. While whipping through the clear sky, James spotted two odd dots on the forest floor. Being the curious person that he was, James turned his broom around and dove towards the earth.  
  
Softly landing on the ground, James slipped off his broom and crept towards the two forms. He was shocked at what he found. Curled up next to each other were two creatures that James would never expect to find in Britain. Sleeping just a few feet away from him were two powerful leopards, one a gorgeous white, the other a glossy black.  
  
Not sure what do with the daunting animals, but knowing it would be dangerous to leave them alone, James quietly took out his wand, and muttered "Somnus." James them whispered, "Mobilicorpus," lifting them from the ground and floating them towards himself and his broom. He climbed onto his broom and slowly flew back to his home in search of his parents.  
  
After placing the leopards on the ground outside his home, and binding them so that they wouldn't run away, James ran into his home. "Mum! Mum, come here. You won't believe what I found."  
  
"James? What do you need? I'm in the living room," his mother replied. James raced into the room, and dragged her out to the backdoor.  
  
"Mum, while I was out flying I found these two in the forest. I know that they don't live in England, so I wanted to know what we should do about them."  
  
"Oh, my!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed. She stared in shock at the two animals. "I know of only two things that could explain this. The first is that they were brought here by muggles for a zoo and got free somehow. The other is that they are animagi. I am leaning towards the latter."  
  
"Animagi?! Mum, I had to do a report on them at school. I looked up all the animagi that exist today, and there are only five. They were a cat, snake, sparrow, bear, and eagle. There were no leopards!" James replied quickly. He knew that there were at least three other illegal animagi running around Hogwarts, but he wasn't about to tell his mother that.  
  
"Dear, they may be animagi illegally. We might as well check, there is no harm in trying." Mrs. Potter calmly replied. With that, she pointed her wand at the two sleeping creatures, and muttered a few words. A flash of blue light came out of her wand, encircling Archer and Lily.  
  
Slowly, as if watching a movie, the two leopards began transforming back into their human selves. James gaped at the two teenagers sleeping peacefully in front of him. One of them was a beautiful girl around his age with deep red, curly hair. The other was a handsome boy, around the same age, with shimmery copper hair.  
  
As James stood there, Mrs. Potter muttered a few more words, unbinding the two friends, and waking them from their sleep.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily and Archer groggily sat up, rubbing their eyes and looking around. When her eyes finally landed on the two people standing in front of her, Lily gasped, and elbowed Archer in the side. He looked at her, then in the direction of her gaze, and froze. Thoughts began rushing through the two teen's minds. OH BLOODY ####! What are we going to do? Who are they? Have we been kidnapped?! What is going on? We are in deep trouble! How are we going to get out of this? Maybe if we stun them we could run for it and . . .  
  
Lily and Archer's thoughts were cut short when the beautiful woman in front of them spoke. "Well, dears, this has been quite an interesting day, and to think, it has only just begun. You both look famished. Why don't you come in and get something to eat? Oh yes, by the way, I am Nerida Potter, and this is my son, James. Come along now."  
  
At those words the three teenagers moved into action. James snapped out of his shock, and Lily and Archer both rushed to their feet. Everyone followed Mrs. Potter into the house, sitting down at the kitchen table. Archer slipped into a chair with Lily gliding in next to him, across from them sat James. Mrs. Potter handed lemonade and a cookie to each person, sitting herself next to James.  
  
Lily and Archer devoured the cookies, and gulped down the lemonade, carefully placing their glasses down on the spotless table. Once they were done eating, Mrs. Potter began to speak with a smile.  
  
"Now that you are properly fed, would you care to tell us a little about who you are, and how my son came to find you?"  
  
"Well . . . " Lily began, "My name is Lily, Lilith actually, and this is Archer. The two of us are travelling to visit our cousin, Joe." Lily gave Archer a sideways glance to make sure that he would play along. He gave her his answer by saying, "He lives near London. We were travelling through the forest when we must have fallen asleep, and that is probably where you found us."  
  
"Quite interesting, I hope that you haven't had any trouble on your journey so far." Mrs. Potter responded.  
  
James eyed the two, suspicious of them, knowing that they weren't telling the truth. Why didn't they mention they were animagi? Or about why they were travelling through the forest? There are better ways to travel.  
  
Instead of voicing these opinions, he decided to take action. "Mum, I heard that there was a violent storm coming this way. It's supposed to arrive tonight. Maybe, if they wanted, Lily and Archer could stay here with us? I mean, there is no way that they would be safe out there. It is supposed to be the most dangerous storm to come here for the past ten years."  
  
Mrs. Potter looked over at her son, searching his face. The only expression she saw was an impassive one. Smiling, she said, "I agree with James. You two will just have to stay with us for the next couple of days until the storm blows over. James will show you where your rooms are, and I won't take no for an answer. It is much too perilous for me to let you leave." With that she got up from the table, and left for the living room.  
  
Inwardly Lily and Archer groaned. They were stuck. Mrs. Potter seemed like a very nice person, but experience taught them not to trust people by their looks.  
  
(Memory) When Lily and Archer had first arrived at the orphanage, they met a man named Kellen Stuvier. He was in charge of the kitchens. Over time the two friends came to trust the cook. They told him secrets about their magic, their lives, who they liked and disliked, everything.  
  
After a couple months Lily and Archer were called into Madame Miriam's office. It turned out that Kellen had told Miriam all of their secrets. She was extremely upset and scared. When Miriam threatened to kill them, Archer performed a Memory Charm on her, preventing her from remembering anything that she was told or said.  
  
Once they had gotten out of Miriam's office, Lily and Archer headed to the kitchens where they met up with Kellen. After finding out what he was truly after, Lily performed a Memory Charm on Kellen too. This incident kept the best friends from ever trusting anyone again. (End Memory)  
  
As James headed down the hall, Lily and Archer cautiously followed. James stopped in front of a beautiful dark wooded door. Pushing them open, the three strode into a beautiful room. In the centre of the large room stood a four-poster bed, with dark blue curtains surrounding it. Right next to the astounding bed laid an elegant maroon carpet, stretching in a circle of about 15 feet across. Large glass doors led to a balcony where an amazing view of the sunset could be seen. Lily and Archer stood in awe at the room. As they stood there stunned, James, smiling, said, "Lily, your room is this way." Turning to Archer, James said, "Archer, I'll let you get acquainted with your new room. Be back in just a minute." With that he and Lily set off for her room. Her room was around the corner and down a ways from Archer's, and it seemed to be in a whole other world. Instead of the dark wood, Lily's doors were of a lovely light birch wood. As she stepped into her room, she gasped.  
  
"It's . . . gorgeous!" she exclaimed.  
  
"I'll take it you like it," James said with a smile.  
  
"Like it?! I love it! I adore the beach, mate, and you just gave me a room that looks like it. I . . . I . . . wow," Lily replied.  
  
"Haha, good. I'm glad you like it," James laughed. "Well, I'll let you settle in, I need to get downstairs for a moment. See you in a little bit." James left the room.  
  
Lily walked around the room, running her hand down the one of the smooth posts of her new bed, scooting across the plush carpet, and the gliding of the wood floor. Surrounding her bed were curtains similar to Archer's, but of a thin, veil-like cloth that she could see through. On the nightstand lay a conch shell. Placing it next to her ear, Lily heard the sound of the ocean waves reverberating out of it. Smiling, Lily moved towards the balcony. She walked out and found that hers faced the west, just like Archer's. She looked to her right and was surprised to see Archer leaning on the edge of his balcony, deep in thought.  
  
"Sil!" She yelled over to him. He looked up and laughed.  
  
"Stay there! I'll be right over!" he shouted back, and disappeared into his room. When he came back, he had a long, thick rope in his arms. Tying one end to his balcony, he tossed the other over to Lily. "Here, Kal. Tie this to the railing, and then we can get back and forth from each other's room without being seen."  
  
Once she had tied her end, Archer cast an invisibility charm over the rope, keeping it from being seen by prying eyes. He then swung his leg over the smooth railing edge, and lowered himself onto the rope. Within two minutes he was climbing over the edge of Lily's balcony. "Hey, mate. So how's life over here?"  
  
"Dazzling!"  
  
"Want to show me what your room looks like? I could tell that you didn't like mine too much. To dark for you, eh?" he joked happily. "Ha ha, very funny, Sil," Lily retorted sarcastically. "It was nice. But, wait till you see mine, it is absolutely amazing," She turned around and pulled him into her bedroom. Looking over her shoulder to see his expression, Lily was happy to see that he was astonished. Archer's love of the beach was only paralleled by Lily's love for it. "No fair! I think I'm going to move in here. Sheesh, how come you get the cool room?" "I'm beautiful," Lily replied simply. Archer gave her a funny look. No longer able to keep a straight face, Lily fell over laughing. After a couple of minutes Lily was able to stand, but Archer kept shaking his head at her. "Now, now Lily. You should no better than to exploit your looks," he said with a fake disapproving look. "That James boy doesn't need to fall for someone who's leaving so soon." At the last sentence Lily's head snapped up. "And exactly what have you planned already, my dear Sil?" she smirked, arching an eyebrow. "You'll have to see, I haven't worked out all the kinks yet." "Fine then. Now, where is James? We need to erase his memory he saw our animal forms. I also want to have some 'fun'." Lily peered around mischievously. "Ah, a prank already?" Archer questioned, grinning. Lily nodded. "I can always count on you, can't I? So what is it?" "It's perfect! Here's how it works . . . " 


	3. Exploding Snap

Chapter Three: Exploding Snap  
  
"Sirius! Sirius where are you?!"  
  
"James!" A boy with thick, black hair, gleaming blue eyes, and a mischievous grin dashed into the room, bowling James over. "Jamsie-boy! You came and visited your old buddy, ME."  
  
"Sirius, get off me. I need to tell you something, something important, actually strange, strange and important. Well, more like. . . "  
  
"James!" Sirius interrupted. "Just tell me what you wanted to say."  
  
"Sorry, OK, so, I woke up this morning and decided to go flying. I ate breakfast, got my broom, and started to fly over the forest. While I was flying I noticed these two strange dots on the ground. I flew down to investigate, and found two leopards, one black, one white. I put them to sleep, and flew them back with me to my house. Well, I told my mum and she said they were either escapees from a muggle zoo, whatever that is, or animagi. Now, remember when we had to do that report last year on animagi?" Sirius nodded, "I looked up all the known animagi, and there were only five a cat, snake, sparrow, bear, and eagle. No leopards. Mum performed this spell that transforms animagi back into their human selves, and the two leopards turned into a boy and a girl our age. We brought them into the house and fed them. The girl, Lily, explained their 'story', which was a complete lie. My mum doesn't know that though. Now, they are staying at our house until the big storm passes. You have to see them, Sirius." James ended his story, watching his friend carefully. Sirius just stood there for a moment, staring at James.  
  
"Are you o.k., James?" Sirius asked cautiously, putting a hand to his friend's forehead..  
  
"I am fine! Just come on. It's almost dinner time anyway, you can see them then." James pulled Sirius over to the fireplace, threw a handful of Floo powder in, yelled "Figulus Domus," and yanked Sirius into the fire.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily and Archer crept out of James's bedroom. They had rigged a balloon of water to fall on James when he walked through his door, and then another one to hit him when he got into bed. As a final touch Lily had spelled the water to turn him a different colour every time it fell on him. As they slipped past the fireplace, three figures fell out, landing on Archer and Lily.  
  
"Get off me!" Lily yelled at the figure now lying on her back.  
  
"Oops, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to land on you." Strong arms pulled Lily up, turning her around. She looked up into an unfamiliar face. It was a boy about 16 with sandy coloured hair, kind grey eyes, and a couple inches taller than her.  
  
Completely caught off guard, she stared into his eyes, losing herself in their depths.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Remus had just stepped out of James's fireplace, in search of his friend, when he had fallen onto someone.  
  
"Get off me!" a girl's voice yelled.  
  
"Oops, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to land on you." He said as he jumped off her back, and helped her up. Remus then turned the girl around to apologize correctly. He looked down into her emerald eyes, and forgot what he was going to say. She was enchantingly beautiful. And her eyes . . . they held a determination, and wild spirit that he had never seen before. He was completely astonished, to say the least. She was . . . gorgeous.  
  
"Lily, Archer we are so sorry for landing on you. We didn't see you. Are you alright?" James inquired. At those words Remus snapped out of his thoughts.  
  
"I'm fine, mate, just a bit shocked," replied Archer cheerily.  
  
"Are you ok?" Remus asked her softly. Lily blinked and shook her head slightly, clearing it.  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. You just startled me." Taking a step back, out of his arms, Lily added, "My name is Lily Evans."  
  
Smiling, Remus replied, "I'm Remus Lupin. It's nice to meet you." Lily smiled back at him.  
  
"Now that we are out of that mini dog-pile, maybe you would care to introduce us," Sirius poked at James.  
  
"Sorry you guys. Remus, Sirius, this Lily and Archer. Archer, Lily," James said, "These two are Remus and Sirius."  
  
"How polite. So proper. Just a spiffy kind of . . . "  
  
James punched Sirius in the arm, "Shut it, Sirius."  
  
"Now, now James. Sirius probably has a very sensitive arm. You shouldn't be so hard on it," Lily teased. James stared at her.  
  
"She does have a point," Remus and Archer added seriously.  
  
"Dinner time!" Mrs. Potter walked into the room, and, after looking around, sighed. "Well, I guess I am going to have to set more spots. Wash up, dears, dinner will be ready in about 2 minutes." Once Mrs. Potter had left the room, everyone save James fell to the floor laughing.  
  
"You should have seen your face James, when Lily told you to be nice to Sirius. It was classic." Archer laughed, gasping for air.  
  
"Oh, it was just sooooo amusing," James replied. "Get up you guys. I'm hungry, and my mum made her special turkey and lasagna." At the last sentence every single one of the teens leapt up and raced to wash-up, and then jump into their seats.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ One month later the five friends were sitting in James living room. Lily and Archer were still at the Potter's house. The Potters had given one excuse after the other as reasons for the two to stay longer. Lily and Archer were slightly frustrated, but they didn't mind staying. It was fun at the Potter Mansion.  
  
Everyone was lounging on the carpeted floor and comfortable couches when Sirius said, "Hey, anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap?"  
  
Exchanging a confused glance with Archer, Lily asked, "Um, mates, what is Exploding Snap?" The three boys gaped at her and Archer.  
  
"You've never heard of Exploding Snap?! Merlin! Where have you been? Everyone knows about Exploding Snap! What house are you in that you didn't here about Exploding Snap?" Sirius exclaimed, astonished.  
  
"House?" Archer asked, confused.  
  
"You guys don't go to Hogwarts?" Remus inquired. Suddenly very afraid of giving away their secret, Archer and Lily slowly shook their heads.  
  
"Then where do you go to school? Beauxbatons? Durmstrong? Salem Institute?"  
  
"We didn't go to school. We lived in an orphanage." Lily said.  
  
"An orphanage? You said that you were visiting your cousin Joe." Oh no! What are we going to do? God, why did I have to let that slip?! Lily looked over at Archer for a bit of help. Though his face was emotionless, she could tell that he was doing some extremely fast thinking.  
  
"Well we did live in an orphanage," Archer quickly interjected. "Kal and I were visiting our cousin that we had just found existed. We didn't know about him until just recently." I am going to get Kal when, and if we get out of this. Archer was not happy that Lily had let that slip.  
  
* ~~~~ * ~~~~ *  
  
James had had enough of the two's lying. I am going to get them to tell the truth. He thought to himself. "How can you guys not know about Hogwarts?" James asked innocently.  
  
"We just never heard of it before," Lily explained.  
  
"Everyone knows about Hogwarts, Lily. The only way that you would not know what Hogwarts was is if you aren't magical."  
  
"It's just that . . . we . . . um . . . " the two fell silent.  
  
"What's a muggle, Archer?" Sirius inquired. Archer didn't answer.  
  
"What is going on you guys? And why did you call Lily Kal?" Remus asked.  
  
"You two have a lot of explaining to do," James stated. Lily and Archer looked at the three boys sitting resolutely in front of them.  
  
"I . . . I can't tell you," Lily whispered.  
  
"God, Lily! I know that you two are magical. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of my school, contacted my mum about a week after you arrived. He said that he had been searching for you guys for six years. You're letters never arrived in your hands for some reason, and he couldn't locate you. He didn't say why it was such a big deal though. You guys must know that all of us are magical," James said. "What aren't you telling us?" 


	4. Tears

Chapter Four: Tears  
  
Lily sat there for a minute, gathering her thoughts. When she looked up into Archer's face, her eyes were glistening. From the single glance that the best friends shared, they each knew that they had to tell.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Lily began the story. She told of life at the orphanage, of how, when she and Archer met, they had learned of their magic. She told of what they would do at night, and to the other people living there. When Lily could no longer talk of how horrible their life had been, Archer stepped in.  
  
"Madame Miriam would punish us terribly if we did anything wrong. Right before we left Miriam had grounded Kal for 'decorating' a room. Kal wasn't allowed to leave her bedroom. No one quite understands what that means though. Food was not allowed into any room except the kitchen and dining room. Therefore Kal wouldn't have been able to eat at all unless we snuck food into her room, or got her out, and that was very hard to do. Miriam would put a guard outside her door to keep her in."  
  
Archer stopped for a moment and looked down at Lily. He had his arms wrapped around her, rocking her in his lap. Her red ringlets were buried in his chest, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at him, drawing strength from his warm gaze. She began to speak again, but in a whisper this time.  
  
"We didn't tell you one thing though. Besides being deprived of food whenever we did anything wrong, Miriam was a very violent person. She would hit, and whip us. She would also throw things at us." Lily paused and took a deep breath. "One time I dropped my plate, and it shattered. She got so mad at me that she picked up the knife used for carving chicken, and threw it at me. It sliced through my right arm." Pulling up her right shirtsleeve, Lily showed them the scar. The boys gasped. The scar went from the front of her arm all the way around to the back, making it look like she was wearing a bracelet around her arm. "The only reason that the knife didn't cut my arm off is because Sil pulled me over."  
  
"To make things worse Kal's older sister, Petunia, would laugh at her whenever she got hurt, thinking it was the best thing that had ever happened. She is Miriam's favourite out of all of the children. Saying that Kal and Petunia hate each other is an understatement." Anger flashed across Archer's handsome face, when he said this.  
  
"After that happened, we decided to get out as fast as possible. This occurred about a year or less ago. Since then we have been searching for a way out of there. When you found us, James, we had been travelling for a couple weeks." James nodded in understanding.  
  
"You forgot to explain one thing though. When I found you, you weren't like you are now." Remus gave James a confused look, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Oh, yes, that. You're right, we did forget." Archer looked down at Kal, whispering, "Come on, Kal. We need to show them." Both of them got up. "It's better if we show you and then explain." Archer told the three boys. Turning to face Lily, Archer her caught her gaze, pleading with her to do as he asked. She nodded slightly, and he smiled.  
  
Within the blink of an eye, Lily and Archer were no longer there. In their place stood two powerful leopards. One of them was a graceful, glowing white. The other was a glossy, impressive black. Each had a dangerous yet mysterious aura surrounding it, causing James, Sirius, and Remus to retreat slightly.  
  
Letting out a soft growl the leopards transformed back into their human selves. Sitting down once again, Lily and Archer looked up expectantly at the boys with questioning eyes.  
  
"Wow," was all that Sirius could get out.  
  
"You guys are animagi?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yeah, if that's what you call it."  
  
For some reason unknown to him, James felt that he could trust the two teenagers sitting silently in front of him. Lily and Archer told us everything about themselves, and we've only known them for a month. How come I trust them so much? They won't tell our secret. I know they won't. Right? James hoped he was correct.  
  
Giving the other two boys a confirming look, James decided that they needed to tell Lily and Archer their secret. It's only fair, James thought. "Guys, we also have something to tell you. Sirius and I are animagi too," with that they both transformed.  
  
Lily and Archer were less shocked than the boys were, but they were surprised to say the least.  
  
In front of them stood a muscular stag with a beautiful head of horns, and a huge, perilous-looking, black dog. After James and Sirius transformed back, Remus took a deep shaking breath.  
  
"I guess that it is only fair that I tell you my secret too," he said. "I . . . I'm a . . . a werewolf." Remus slowly looked up, searching the faces of the two sitting in front of him.  
  
"Remus," Lily quietly began, "are you expecting me to go running from the room or something? You look terrified."  
  
"Almost everyone in the wizarding world has a terrible prejudice against werewolves," Remus explained quietly. "They would run away as fast as possible, actually." Lily stood up, walked over to Remus, and enveloped him in a warm embrace.  
  
"I'd never run," she whispered in to his ear.  
  
"Thank you so much, Lils," he replied, tightening the embrace.  
  
"We would never do that, mate. We just aren't that kind of people," Archer said.  
  
Releasing Lily, Remus smiled happily. "You don't know how much that means to me."  
  
"Ok, so we have successfully depressed everyone in the room. Now, before we get all too gloomy, could you guys please explain this whole name thing? I am royally confused!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
Laughing Archer replied, "Sure, Sirius. Lily's entire name is Lilith Kali Evans, mine is Archer Silas Keith."  
  
"You guys aren't related?" James interrupted.  
  
"No, we're not."  
  
"Wow, you guys are so close that we thought you were twins. Your eyes also look exactly alike. So, I just assumed that you were brother and sister.  
  
Lily laughed, "I guess I understand the mistake. We wish we were related. I know we act like we are at least."  
  
"That's kinda surprising, but anyway, back to the nickname thing," Sirius said.  
  
"Ok. Well, the nicknames come from our middle names. They helped at the orphanage because eavesdroppers couldn't tell who was talking. No one had these names at the orphanage, and no one knew our middle names. So, it all worked out."  
  
"Ahhhh, that makes sense. Interesting," mused James. All of a sudden he turned and said, "Sirius, what time is it?" Snoring away on the floor next to them lay their friend, fast asleep. Everyone laughed at the sight.  
  
Lily looked at her watch saying, "It's 11:00 pm. No wonder I'm so tired. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." As she stood up, so did Archer.  
  
"Hold up, mate. I'll come with you. I'm about to fall asleep as well. Night everyone." He walked after Lily towards the stairs. "And James," Archer said right before he left the room, "please don't tell anyone about Kal and I." With that, he smiled and ran to catch up with Lily.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lily dashed up the stairs running from her friend. "Kal! Kal, come on. Wait up!" She laughed and ran faster. "Kal! You know that I am going to get you for running." Lily laughed once again and dashed into Archer's room.  
  
Quickly transforming, she bounded up onto the top of one of the posts of his bed. Archer ran into the room, gasping for breath. He had seen her turn into the room, so he knew she was in there, just not where. Making a quick guess that she had changed into her leopard form, he transformed.  
  
Lily watched from atop her perch, silently laughing. Closing her glowing eyes for a moment, Lily smiled. I should have known that he would transform. Now he can see better. I'm as good as caught. When she opened them once again, Archer was nowhere to be seen. Shoot! Where did he go?  
  
Just as she was wondering where Archer had gotten off to, something landed on her back, throwing her to the bed. Landing on top of her, a black leopard growled at Lily. Laughing, Lily changed back into her self, and pushed the now human Archer off of her.  
  
"I told you I would find you. And look what you have done! You woke me up. I'll never be able to get to sleep now," Archer teasingly complained.  
  
"Well, I will still be able, and am going to, Sil." Lily then nimbly jumped off his bed, ran over to the balcony, and dove over the edge. Within a minute she was standing in her balcony. "Night, Sil. Sweet dreams."  
  
"You too, Kal. See ya' in the morning." And before anyone watching could have blinked, the best friends were in bed, asleep. 


End file.
